According to the current study, the body’s iron levels make your mental health symptoms worse. Deficits in iron can exacerbate the signs of sadness, anxiety, and schizophrenia since it is necessary for the production of vital neurotransmitters that have an impact on mental health. Even in people who do not have iron-deficiency anemia, iron supplementation can help with mood improvement and fatigue reduction. Despite iron’s crucial significance, few patients and healthcare professionals are aware of its relationship to mental health.
Primary Cause of Mental Health Problems
People who experience depression, anxiety, or other mental health symptoms may want to be tested, eat foods high in iron, or take supplements as more evidence of a link between the two emerges. Nowadays, most people are aware that differences in our bodies, genes, and brains as well as in our life experiences are the primary causes of mental health problems.
However, your diet and how your body processes the nutrients in it have an impact on your mental health. A increasing body of studies indicates that one essential nutrient, iron, may play a significant role and that low iron levels may have an impact on mental health symptoms. According to Stephanie Weinberg Levin, M.D., a psychiatrist at Michigan Medicine and the VA Ann Arbour Healthcare System, many persons with mental health issues like depression or anxiety, as well as the medical professionals who treat them, may not be aware of this connection.
Take Professional Advice
While completing a residency in integrative psychiatry, she delved further into the subject. In a recent review article for their fellow psychiatrists, she and former psychiatry resident Theresa Gattari, M.D., outlined the present state of knowledge. The basic line is that everyone should consume foods high in iron because many individuals already don’t get enough of it. However, those who have mental health issues may want to request in particular that their doctor or another healthcare professional perform a blood test that precisely analyses their iron levels. It’s critical to increase iron in the diet and take iron supplements if a healthcare professional advises them if the ferritin test result is low.
